Leptin Resistance

If you don’t eat your leptin levels will decrease. This signals your brain that you need more food. Your brain stimulates you vagus nerve. When the vagus nerve is stimulated you feel hungry and you want to eat. When you eat, your leptin levels go back up and your brain stops stimulating the vagus nerve. Now you don’t feel hungry anymore.

Testing has shown that most overweight people have high leptin levels, yet they still overeat. The reason for this is called leptin resistance.

Your leptin levels appear to be tied to you insulin levels. When you eat too much sugar, your body secretes insulin to lower your blood sugar level. If your body has to secrete insulin a lot to control blood sugar levels, your insulin receptors will get sluggish. The same is true with the leptin receivers.

The best way to control both insulin and leptin levels is to keep a low steady blood sugar level. You can accomplish this through avoiding high glycemic foods. Eat raw fruits, vegetables and grilled meats. Eat a little bit every few hours. Don’t let yourself go a long time without food, eat in the morning.

Processed Foods

Processed food is a major factor in increasing Leptin resistance. For example, if you ate a 300 calorie desert made of refined sugar and trans fat you should burn it off in about 3 hours during the day. But that desert can mess up your diet for far longer. Way longer than the extra 300 calories you ate. To lower leptin resistance you need to stop eating these kinds of foods. Refined sugar, high fructose corn sugar and trans fats are really bad for you, try and avoid them.